NOT THE ONLY ONE:

Catch a cloud with Jeff Harris (TED MILLER, 8/06/05, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER)

Forget Rafael Palmeiro, Ryan Franklin and lurid headlines about steroids. Take a deep breath and let go of the Mariners' lost season.

Just for a moment, hold the toasts for teen phenom Felix Hernandez. There will be plenty of time to ponder the second coming of Pedro Martinez.

Instead, consider Jeff Harris.

This All-American kid out of Alameda, Calif., was born on the Fourth of July. He will make his first major league start tomorrow against the Chicago White Sox.

He's a 31-year-old rookie.

His résumé reads like a road map of nondescript towns: Elizabethton, Fort Wayne, Fort Myers, New Britain, Sun Cities and Chico. Then there's some exotica: Quebec, Taiwan and Mexico. He was the first North American to pitch in a pro league on mainland China.

He's been a Rock Cat, a Solar Sock, a Yaquis, a Railroadman and an Outlaw.

There has been continuity, though. Through it all, he's been a Dreamer.

That's sappy, no doubt. But hopefully it's still possible for baseball to make sentimental goose bumps rise. We haven't completely lost that, have we?